I worked for a boss who did not have proper professional skills. She bullied her staff and lacked insight into her feelings and those of others. Engaging in manipulative and intimidating behavior was part of her daily routine, highlighting a lack of self-awareness.
Why is self-awareness crucial?
Self-attentiveness is crucial and requires the ability to be in touch with your uniqueness and daily rhythm, traits, behaviors, feelings, thought patterns, and routines, which is instrumental in enabling you to do a thorough self-study to understand the areas that need improvement.
Self-awareness is a much-needed skill in your personal life, relationships, and work environment. It is handy in helping you to monitor your internal and external world. Therefore, understanding the correlation between your emotions and thoughts and how you interact with them is paramount.
Conscientiousness is a fundamental mechanism that guides you in procuring self-knowledge in understanding which feelings take you up and which ones take you down. It is an eye-opener in putting the finger on the emotions you need to change how you interact.
It also helps you understand how you interact with other people, how they perceive you, your attitude, and your reaction. Conscientiousness enables you to make changes in behavior and beliefs by evaluating your core values, scrutinizing their compatibility with your current state. The core values that are unhealthy and lack compatibility need to be examined and replaced with healthy ones.
Why is it hard to practice self-awareness?
Most of the time, we are not in touch with our thoughts; we zone out, and taking control of our wandering scattered mind is a chore. We lack the boldness to step up and truthfully view what is happening in our inner and external world. We are not comfortable in seeking feedback that could evoke a negative connotation. Growth requires stepping out of our comfort zone, making ourselves vulnerable to feedback from supervisors, colleagues, family members, and friends. Ignoring our feelings instead of exploring them is a significant hindrance. It can be a wellspring of emotional stagnation and inability to pay attention to our intuition – our internal GPS, guiding us in being present with our feelings, physical sensations, reactions, habits, behaviors, and thought patterns.
Conclusion
Practicing self-awareness helps you command your environment and understand how it influences the interaction between your thoughts, moods, behaviors, and physical reactions. You will be able to scrutinize your behavioral and thought patterns coming up with a balanced way of thinking.
You will then become more aware of dents in your personality and behavior, which previously went unnoticed. You will be well equipped to harness your social skills, providing you with the ability to empathize, listen actively, and reflectively, improving personal and professional relationships.
Similar: Why is Emotional Liberation Necessary?
Beatrice Ndura is a Mental Health Coach, a writer, and the host of Musings Podcast, that addresses mental, emotional, and spiritual health.
©Beatrice Ndura
